Chrono Trigger: Dreams and Time Travel
by Magus Darkmatter
Summary: Imagine you woke up this morning, got dressed, ate breakfast and went to work/school, etc, just like you do on every other normal day. Except, today, on your way to your destination you are asked to save the world. Would you walk away, or see where the rabbit hole leads?
1. Prelude - The Bell Tower

Prelude - The Bell Tower - Guardia Kingdom - 1000 AD

By the time the sun had fully risen the man had reached the bell tower. In the darkness of the tower stairwell he detached a large key chain from his belt, and rifled through to find the key to open the tower door. The tower had fallen into degradation in recent years. "When will the King direct some of his efforts toward restoration of this sanctimonious place?" the man thought. Probably no time soon as the King was busy coordinating efforts for the Millennium Fair celebrations. The academics of the time disagreed, but the townsfolk rumored that the stones used to construct the upper portion of the tower were cloaked in a protective magic. They were specifically used by the ancient builders to guard the sacred bell. Today however, the man thought they just looked worn and smelled of mold, rot, and water. The man counted 10 keys as he had done for some many days and years before. When he reached the 11th key he stopped and slid the key into the lock. The lock bolts sounded and felt heavy as he turned the key, but soon gave way and the man entered the circular room.

The room was empty except for a large window that did little to hinder the elements, and the ancient Bell. Tendrils of sunlight steamed through the broken window and made the bell seem almost luminescent today. He carefully reached over the chasm for the worn bell rope. There were stories in the man's Order that one of his predecessors had become too inebriated and fallen to his death while trying to reach for the rope. The story was never fully founded in fact, but always crept into the back of the man's mind when he reach out for the rope over the nothingness of the abyss.

Today began like a normal run-of-the-mill day. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, birds were chirping, the farmers had put their cows and horses in the fields to graze. The long winter had ended a few weeks prior and now the trees and spring flowers were in full bloom. He could smell the fresh bread that was being made at the bakery in town, and saw the peddlers headed for the town square to begin their set up. "There will be a large turn-out for the fair", the man thought as he pulled the rope toward him. On a day like today, the bell could be heard for miles, the sound waves reaching far past the perimeter of the Guardia Kingdom. He drew a deep breath and gave the rope a big heave. The 3 mallets of the bell swung to the side and the result was a cacophonistic and harmonious 3 toned blast of sound. The ritual designated by the man's Order stated the bell must be rung 3 successive times, and the man performed this act.

Once the 3rd strike had sounded the man turned, left the room, locked the door, and descended the stairs to get some breakfast lest his brothers would lick the serving plates clean. The man went on to live a full and happy life, never knowing that by ringing the bell on that day, he had started a series of events, like a nuclear chain reaction, which would lead to the salvation of the world, or it's destruction.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Message

Chapter 1 - The Message - Guardia Kingdom - 1000 AD

The 'vibrations' began outside the boundaries of the universe, and beyond the realm of infinity. As they passed between the ether of dimensions they took on an almost sentient quality. They enjoyed 'seeing' the sights offered by every in all dimensions of space and time on their journey. They saw the birth, destruction, and rebirth of countless universes and worlds. However, they had a clearly defined path to a very specific place, and especially a specific person. By the time they reached the end of their journey they had manifested and grouped themselves into auditory sound; a clear and simple message "Time to wake up."

It was only for a brief second but Chrono heard those words as clearly as the water that flowed from the Crystal Springs in Guardia woods. The voice of the message was strange, but also slightly familiar. Chrono barely had time to comprehend what he had heard when a more familiar voice stirred him from his slumber. It was his mother. "Chrono...Chrono...time to wake up Chrono", she whispered in his ear. His mother strolled across the room to draw the curtains and open the window. "I'd forgotten how beautiful Leane's Bell sounds", his mother said, "You were so excited about the fair last night that I see you are already dressed". He had slept in his cloths the night before. Chrono opened his eyes on the 3rd stroke of the bell. When she saw that Chrono was still in bed she tried a different approach. "If you get up now, I'll give you your allowance early."

Chrono slowly sat up on his bed, stretched his arms to the sky, then looked at his mother an smiled. She returned the smile and said "I'll see you downstairs." With that she turned and left the room. Chrono's room was small and simple. It was occupied by a small wooden bed, a dresser and an old wooden stool that his father had made for him when he was a boy. The stool was occupied by his cat. Chrono went over to his window. From there he could see the town about a mile down the road, and the castle off in the distance. He felt the warm breeze hit his face and turned back to his room. He put on his shoes, grabbed his wooden training sword, then went over to his cat. He scratched behind the cats' ear. The cat let out a content 'meow' and purred. Their family cat was very particular about whom he let pet him, and only seemed to respond to Chrono, his mother, and at a time, his father.

Chrono walked downstairs where he found his mother tidying up the house. The ground floor of the house was similar to Chrono's room. From the front door, there was a small living area with an old rug, a kitchen and the dining table. On the table was a loaf of fresh bread. Chrono went over and broke off a piece. It was still warm. His mother must have been saving to buy this treat for the day of the fair. Usually the bread they ate was at least a week old, and needed 20 minutes cooking in the stew before it softened. Chrono's mother looked up from her work and saw him. "Eat as much as you'd like" she said with a smile "You'll need your energy for the day".

Chrono finished his meal, walked over to his mother and gave her a long hug indicating that he was leaving for the fair. His mother kissed his forehead and said "Don't hurt anyone with that sword, have fun, and be back in time for dinner". Chrono opened the door, stepped out into the air, and felt the sun warm his face. He was about to shut the door, when he heard his mom say, "By the way dear, here is your allowance."


	3. Chapter 2 - The Memory

Chapter 2 - The Memory - Guardia Kingdom - 1000 AD

Chrono reached the end of the gravel road that lead to town in what felt like an instant. Though old enough in age to be considered ready to live on his own, Chrono still lived with his mom, and their cat. Their house was the only residence located on the east road from town. Some days the road to town felt like it took a light year to traverse. Today however, he felt a tangible feeling in the air, almost electric, and he found his mind wandering as he entered town.

The town of Guardia had been engineered in a circular pattern with a fountain spring at the center. The fountain had been positioned in the North, South, East, and West compass directions. Chrono walked to the fountain and took a deep breath. As he looked around he took notice that the usually busy town was empty, except for a few stragglers that hadn't yet made their way to the fair.

From the fountain, the North Road lead to the Millennium Fair Grounds; the West Road lead to Guardia Forest, and the Castle beyond. The East Road lead to Chrono's house, and the South Road lead to the fishing and ferry docks. The town was small and modest. The main attractions being the fountain, the Mayor's Manner, Truce Inn, resident housing and the Market.

Chrono spent most of his time doing odd jobs at the market to help his mother make ends meet. His free time was split between helping his mother maintain the house, and his lifelong passion, sword play. His wooden practice sword was given to him as a gift when he was a baby. And though it was made of wood, he had become proficient in the art over the years...ever since his father disappeared. He greeted the few acquaintances that still lingered in town as he made his way toward the North road.

As he traveled he felt unusally introspective. The ephemeral feeling he experienced on his journey to town was replaced with memories of his father. Chrono was only six years old when it happened. His father had taken him into Guardia forest for a fishing lesson. "I'm going to catch the biggest fish ever!", he remembered saying. His father looked at him and chuckled his reply, "A fish that big will require a big, sturdy, fallen branch to catch. Let's find you one."

They reached the end of the forest trees and entered a meadow, the river located just beyond. As they made their way through the high grass, Chrono spotted a good fishing branch. He bent down, picked up the branch, and when he stood up his father was no where to be seen. It had only been a second or two, but his father was gone. His first thought was that his father was hiding, but the meadow grass was not tall enough to conceal a person, and there were no trees located near by. Chrono called out for him but there was no answer. That is when, and the first time he heard the Voice. It cut through the silence of the forest, is dread, and his tears. "Go", it simply said.

Startled, confused, crying, and screaming, he ran as fast as he could back to his house. The route back was not very far, but Chrono felt as though he was running through molasses. When he burst though the front door he was crying; all of the blood had drained from his face. "Chrono! Chrono! What is wrong?", his mother questioned frantically, "Where is your father?!".

Chrono opened his mouth but no words came out, he just sobbed uncontrollably until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion. In fact, Chrono has not spoken a word since that day. Everyone in town had their theories regarding what happened to his father, and why Chrono was not able, or unwilling to speak, but most believed that whatever did happen that day, scared the young boy so much that he lost his ability to speak.

Chrono had become so enamored in memories of that day that he didn't notice that he had entered the Fair Grounds. Nor did he notice that he had made his way through a crowd of standing people, and was now standing in an open area. He was only roused from his stupor by the sound of loud and approaching footsteps. This was immediately followed by someone shouting at him, "Look out!".


	4. Chapter 3 - Meet Marle

p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_2762" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"Chapter 3 - Meet Marle - Guardia Kingdom - 1000 AD/p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_3744" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"Chrono turned his head to the right just in time to see 4 runners barreling down towards him. He barely escaped collision by jumping backwards into the crowd of people he had just passed. "Hey kid, I have a fair sum of money wagered on this race, and you better not have spooked my runner!", Chrono heard one of the people behind him shout./p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_17444" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"The Millennium Fair Grounds were set up North of the town in the area that was usually reserved for farmers markets, and wedding celebrations. The King had spared no expense and ordered that the decorations, food, and festivities live up to such an event as a Millennium celebration. The Chancellor had initially handled the preparations, but in recent months his demeanor changed, almost over night people claimed, so now the King was overseeing the final preparations. /p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_24363" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"Chrono's allowance from his mother wasn't much, and Chrono knew he should spend it wisely. This task as easier said than done however. As Chrono walked through the fair grounds he noticed that pretty much every vendor was set up to make the patron spend, bet, and lose money. There were the occasional winners, but the odds were not stacked in the players favor. Chrono also had been saving as much as he could, when he could, because he had heard that the legendary sword smith, Belthasar, was going to make a rare appearance with some of his merchandise. Chrono had heard stories of the mysteries sword smith who lived across the sea, and could hardly wait to meet him. "Patience", Chrono reminded himself, "First let me try to win some money for the 'new sword' fund."/p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_31485" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"He visited some of the vendors to determine which one he would be most likely to have success. He could bet on the runners that almost trampled him, play whatever strange game they had dreamed up for the House of Horrors, or challenge a man to an ale chugging contest. As he was contemplating his move, in the periphery of his hearing he overheard a little girl sobbing about a lost cat. His thoughts soon turned to another conversation that he overheard. "I heard that machine of hers has already knocked the day-lights out of nearly a dozen men!" one of the men exclaimed. Chrono smacked his head in bewilderment; how could he have forgotten? His best friend and inventor Lucca had built a sparring robot for the fair. "I hope it will function well enough to knock out the bravest of knights." Chrono remembered her proclaiming to him as it was being built./p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_31800" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"Being skilled with his sword, Chrono decided this was his best shot to actually win some money. He made his way back across the fair grounds to the West end where Lucca's Robot was set up. As he was formulating his attack and defense strategy in his head he noticed a cat run across his path. He remembered the sobbing little girl and his gut told him that he just saw the missing cat. He also knew he had a decision to make. On one hand this wasn't his problem and he was really interested to see Lucca's machine. One the other hand he knew that if his cat were ever lost he would be a mess and want help too. He decided the Machine could wait./p  
p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489800493043_31976" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"The cat was a quick and agile one. It lead Chrono on a whirlwind path around the fair, and proved much more difficult to catch than anticipated. Finally, Chrono had the cat cornered. He had chased the cat into the Main Square of the fair grounds. He knew he had to move quick, so he made a head-first diving leap toward the cat. In midair, he saw what appeared as a black silhouette come into his path and he collided with someone. "Ouch!", was the last thing Chrono heard before he hit the ground, the cat escaping through his hands./p 


End file.
